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Extend multimedia support for OS2 & eCS

Started by kim, 2007.08.03, 00:10:54

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kim


kim

#1
Guess that following old thread can be of use for this bounty as well; since it was more or less here this bounty kind of got suggested.

miturbide



This is a good reference link for the current MMOS2 components available.
http://wiki.netlabs.org/index.php/MMOS2_Related_Projects

It will be a good idea to reuse the open source ones to extend them.
Martín Itúrbide
OS2World.com NewsMaster
Open Source Advocate

Skype - martiniturbide
Google Talk - martiniturbide@gmail.com

kim

Another project that might be handy to pick code from could be Mozilla Miro - where Miro is their open source video platform.


BigWarpGuy

Perhaps parts of the Mozilla Miro could be used with the WarpVision plugin and/or program?  ???

LJX

Just took a quick peek at the Miro page and noted that it uses VLC, herewith link : http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ which is an open source media player. Not sure whether it's been ported already?

RobertM

#6
I dont think that VLC has been ported yet... but, all of these solutions seem to only resolve certain (playing) issues under OS/2 and eCS. And for that aspect, I am finding KMP or ffMPEG to be a decent solution.

Though neither KMP or ffMPEG include a pretty GUI (for OS/2), a GUI can be made to control them (and done pretty easily).

The problem I see is that all such solutions still lack the capabilites and sheer elegance of an OS/2 codec. The beauty of OS/2 and it's codec system is that once a codec is written that understands the following aspects: read & play, translate to raw data, encode to format - then every multimedia object can be transcoded to or from that format by right clicking on it. In addition, every OS/2 codec aware app can view, edit, transcode or save the particular file.

The problems I am aware of (through second hand related experiences) is making a good OS/2 codec can be difficult or daunting.

As of right now, I have not run into anything that KMP (latest version) wont play correctly... SWF videos, Quicktime,  WMV, AVI, DVD files, whatever. For now, even with no fancy GUI to load files, it is still very easy to use KMP to play anything by simply adding associations to the KMP Player object.

The same goes for ffMPEG, which I currently use to convert whole DVDs to a Flash FLV video by copying the DVD contents (VIDEO_TS folder) to a hard drive and then using a simple Right Click in the folder, and selecting "Convert VOB objects to FLV" - which is of course a breeze with a little REXX app and adding the app to every folder's object menu at once (via WPSWizard in my case). In the example below, it creates an FLV folder by the date of the folder I copy the VIDEO_TS folder to, and then converts each VOB file to an FLV file in the appropriate FLV folder. The script can of course be easily modified to rename or place the videos anywhere (I do it this way because we have clients who provide us DVDs by date - 1 per each date).




I think the question here *now* is what direction are we taking this thread and/or what direction do we wish to see MM development proceed under OS/2? My preference are "native" codecs. The current direction seems to be fancy GUIs for an app that plays most formats. Having "native" codecs allows anyone to create an app that has a fancy GUI (very easily) but requires more work creating a codec than the other option - which is having an app that reads and plays most formats (with or without the fancy GUI). It is probably a lot easier porting something like Miro, KMP, mPlayer, etc to OS/2 and dump the video into a "Presentation Space" than to take the various format handling code and turning it into a full OS/2 codec.

So which do we all think is more important?



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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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RobertM

#7
Now, as for Miro, here is what might be an idea to replicate it (with the help of perhaps the person(s) who ported KMP and/or mPlayer)...

Why not just make a folder sub-class (kinda like Cris W.'s CWMM class) that uses a split view, so the left side is the tree view, and the right side is the presentation space... the area on the top could be control buttons, etc - and the area on the bottom could be status info, etc and/or set up like Miro.

This would allow a few things...

  • The Tree View area could have (shadows of) default objects loaded into it such as "Media Library"
  • The Media Library itself could contain (shadows of) any object dragged into it
  • Below the Media Library area could be (shadows of) any objects dragged into it
  • Below the Media Library area could also contain (shadows of) special folders/categories just like in Miro

This would allow one - or multiple player objects with the same or different content... all with "unbreakable" content links. The search functions (such as "Video Search") could easily be implemented through the browser window.

It would thus create the same functionality of Miro, with the added benefits of the WPS - and the added benefit of creating Playlists accessible from any player folder.

Now, as I havent looked at MM stuff on OS/2 in ages [and then, only LOOKED at it (and never programmed anything)] I am not sure how difficult it is to create a presentation space in something other than a "VIO like" window such as what KMP uses. I know (or am pretty sure) it is possible but have no idea how it would be done.

Of course, the same functionality minus the integrated player window can be done very easily with some REXX scripting and a splitview folder with the content area (right pane) hidden... the player area would just be loaded in a separate window... but could also probably be controlled via REXX from the folder itself. I often create "special" multimedia folder templates to put images or MP3s in - and a similar technique could be used for these "player" windows. I, for instance, create an "MP3 Folder" template by using a regular folder, changing the display settings to display the CWMM defined attributes, so that opening it in it's default details view shows name, ID3 data, etc - instead of the normal "Details View" information... while the "Image Folder" will either be a lighttable or some other format for better displaying images.


Dunno... just some random thoughts (from before I finish my first cup of coffee) - so I am not sure how coherent or sensible they are...


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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kim

When going back and looking at the original bounty description we are then talking about codecs so that the entire OS isn't stuck with a single player. So as RobertM says and as I agree with, native codecs would be the preferred solution, having said that it might not be the most easy task to solve. So what would the next best solution be? A Codec Wrapper, ie being able to re-use either Linux or Windows codecs directly in OS2. If this could be done that would be great.

As far as I understand the MMOS2 isn't that well documented and there is clearly lack of how it works. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. So it might come in handy to gather some knowledge about MMOS2 if this is one of the first issues to be solved.

RobertM

Quote from: kimhav on 2007.08.20, 22:30:39
...As far as I understand the MMOS2 isn't that well documented and there is clearly lack of how it works. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. So it might come in handy to gather some knowledge about MMOS2 if this is one of the first issues to be solved.


AFAIK, that is the case... the TeamMMOS2 Japan group made some amazing headway in that respect, though I am not sure how one would find them or contact them. They even had an MP3 codec that supported conversion to and from MP3 if memory serves (as well as some other neat projects - some of which are on Hobbes as Shareware).

I wish I could be of more help in this area... if I find any further info, I will pass it along to whoever takes up this project...

-Robert


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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kim

Well, I'll check with the Japanese OS2 users that I have contact with and see if they can help us out with this one.